By the Light of the Moon, If There Was One

Writing by the light of five candles makes me think of a couple of historical figures. One is Abe Lincoln, who is purported to have read by the light of a candle as a child. One candle would not cut it for someone like me with presbyopia. Five is the bare minimum. The other person is Thomas Alva Edison, who among other accomplishments, developed the technology that uses electrical energy to manufacture light. I can understand why a 70 watt bulb is like 70 candles burning. I would like to have 70 “bougies” burning right now. I have enough reserve power on the laptop to write and I’ll load this onto the blog later when the power goes back on. It could be soon, or it could be tomorrow. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll write and keep the refrigerator door closed. I have eaten dinner, which consisted of an interesting conglomeration of navy beans, eggplant, tomato, onion and green pepper, accompanied by a great vin rouge. Dessert was a Dutch windmill cookie with a cup of strong Belgian cafe.

The Embassy is sending me on my first get-away. I leave for Lubumbashi, Congo, on Sunday to help Carole, my previous roommate, interview 18 candidates for her new CALI (Congo American Language Institute) program. I am being accompanied by Dr. Mubangu Itangaza (see photo) who is the Teacher Coordinator (T.C.) for the CALI here in Kinshasa. He has been a teacher here for over 40 years, and the T.C. for 10. Other assets include being able to speak Lingala and French, and who knows what other language (s). He knows the Lubumbashi area well, having spent six years there earlier in his career. He has a wealth of hiring/firing experience and I am so grateful that he is the one who has agreed to help get this job done. After the eight teachers are chosen, we hope to train them in the days that follow. We return to Kinshasa on Saturday, the 8th.

I hear that Lubumbashi is quite nice and a relief from the congestion of Kinshasa. Although I’m looking forward to a little change of scenery, the timing for this isn’t the best because I’m expecting two women to arrive here from Grand Rapids on Monday night. One is a surgical resident who spent some time here while her Dad was a missionary, the other is the daughter of a former headmaster of TASOK, the American school close to my house where I go swimming, etc. Because this is not new territory for them, I’m sure they’ll be fine, but I feel a little funny taking off just before they get here. I will, however, see them when I return, as they will be here for three weeks total, and just two with me. I’ll make sure that Dicky, my “garcon de la maison” has things in good order for them.

My teaching, you ask? Oh, no big deal. Just canceled the classes. Of course. Why not? TIA. This is Africa.

LOL: Life of Leisure

About a quarter of a mile away from my house is the Cercle Hippique de Kinshasa. Last weekend, I had the fun of attending my first-ever horse jumping competition there. The contestants were from five different countries: Belgium, Zimbabwe, Congo, South Africa and Kenya. I took a few photos and am curious to see if I shrink one down small enough if I can get it to load from here. If not, let me tell you that the photo I want to display is of the winner of the first round, a small white horse named Cookie, almost a pony, that seemed to jump straight up like a frog. Its rider was a petite gal who had total control.

I'm really getting into the txt messaging (note the title of this blog), primarily because it doesn't require any cost to the sender. We often need to communicate just quick messages. Cell time is so expensive that conversations are kept to a minimum. It is not unusual to observe conversations that just end with no goodbyes--just stop. I have been the recipient of "the beep" too, in which the sender sends the call signal and then immediately hangs up so they don't get charged, but he/she is expecting me to call them back and consequently pay for the call. I quickly learned to not respond to "the beep." If somebody wants to talk, he/she may call and pay the price.

Most of you who read this blog know that I can be a little obsessive about watching Mystery! on PBS. If you try to call me during a Mystery! show, I will usually not answer because who can miss any of the clues in Miss Marpel mysteries or any of the other fabulous detective stories? I'm totally hooked and have to admit that I still have withdrawal symptoms when Sunday night comes around. However, I am happy to report that the previous renter of this house must have been a mystery afincianado, too, and has a well-stocked library of not only Agatha Christie, but the wonderful Dorothy Gilman (Mrs. Polifax series is my personal favorite) as well as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers and Ellis Peters. If that weren't enough to read, there's even Luci Shaw's poetry. Give me a good book, a cup of African Red Bush tea (compliments of daughter Grace!) add some electrical power for lights and I am good for a long night.